internal
Daniel E. Clara
President & Chief Executive Officer
Executive
1 yr
4 reports
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. ·ABG
CEO promoted from operations as long‑time chief shifts to chair
Retailing · Fortune #242 · Hybrid structure · 15K employees · Duluth, Georgia
View as of:
4
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 8)
4
Avg span
moderate
2
Max depth
2 levels
4.75 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
100%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2024 · period end 2024-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$17.2B
Operating income
$861M
Net income
$492M
Total assets
$11.6B
Shares out
19M
Sourced from Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2026-03-24 ↗ View on SEC
Interactive org chart
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. organizational chart
Explore the executive structure, reporting layers, and scenario-ready operating model from public filings.
Open editable chart
Take this model into your AI workspace Use AI to reason through the model, then bring the scenario back into Creately Atlas.
Choose a prompt, then open an AI app and paste.
Download the CSV data instead
Asbury Automotive Group is led by a newly promoted CEO, Daniel E. Clara, who rose from COO as longtime chief David Hult moved to Executive Chairman. This page maps the lean executive structure, highlights the 2026 leadership transition, and compares Asbury’s flat C‑suite model with automotive retail peers.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Daniel E. Clara moved into President & Chief Executive Officer
Promoted from Chief Operating Officer to CEO effective following the 2026 Annual Meeting (May 2026).
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add Chief Operating Officer Introduce a new COO reporting to the CEO to rebalance operational oversight as the company continues acquisitive growth.
- Move CIO under CFO Shift the CIO to report to the CFO to tighten integration between IT investment and capital allocation discipline.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
- Connect Salesforce Map your target accounts like this. Import contacts, visualize decision chains, plan multi-threading.
- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
5 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
Michael D. Welch
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Finance
4 yr
0 reports
Dean A. Calloway
Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
Legal
2 yr
0 reports
Jed M. Milstein
Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer
Human Resources
8 yr
0 reports
Miran Maric
Chief Information Officer
Technology
4 yr
0 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
David W. Hult $10.7M
- Base salary
- $1.30M
- Stock awards
- $7.00M
- Non-equity incentive
- $2.40M
- Other
- $32K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The businesses
How Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. divides the work
3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Finance
300 employees
SVP & CFO (Michael D. Welch)
Oversees financial reporting, capital allocation, treasury, and investor relations across the enterprise.
Legal & Compliance
120 employees
SVP, General Counsel & Secretary (Dean A. Calloway)
Manages legal affairs, regulatory compliance, governance, and M&A legal support.
Human Resources
250 employees
SVP & CHRO (Jed M. Milstein)
Leads talent management, compensation, benefits, and workforce strategy for ~15,000 employees.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
The most distinctive structural fact is that Asbury’s CEO role passed directly from a long‑tenured chief to his longtime operations leader, without adding a new management layer.
Daniel E. Clara moved from COO to CEO in May 2026 while David W. Hult transitioned to Executive Chairman, keeping strategic continuity while refreshing day‑to‑day leadership.
The org remains lean at the top, with only four named C‑suite executives reporting to the CEO. There is no separate president or group CEO layer, and no disclosed replacement COO as of mid‑2026, suggesting Clara retained direct operational oversight. This keeps decision‑making close to dealership operations but concentrates span of control at the CEO level.
Functionally, finance, legal, HR, and IT are centralized, while operating leadership below the C‑suite remains largely market‑ and dealership‑based, consistent with Asbury’s acquisition‑driven growth model.
- CEO promoted internally from COO role
- No named COO following 2026 CEO transition
The comparison
How Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. stacks up
Compared with peers like AutoNation and Lithia Motors, Asbury operates with a slightly smaller disclosed C‑suite and a flatter corporate center. AutoNation and Lithia both maintain broader executive benches with explicit regional or brand presidents, while Asbury emphasizes centralized functions and decentralized …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.
2 levels
4 levels
5 levels
5 levels
4 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.
5 yr
6 yr
7 yr
Has COO / Has CAIO
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. — no COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
Asbury elevated COO Daniel Clara to CEO in May 2026 as longtime chief David Hult transitioned to Executive Chairman.
- Date not confirmed promotedDaniel E. Clara President & Chief Executive Officer
Promoted from Chief Operating Officer to CEO effective following the 2026 Annual Meeting (May 2026).
Source - Date not confirmed reorgDavid W. Hult Executive Chairman
Transitioned from President & CEO to Executive Chairman effective after the 2026 Annual Meeting.
Source
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-03-24
- CEO
- David W. Hult
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 5.2 yr
Year marked by planned CEO succession and COO promotion.
Named executive officers (5)
- David W. Hult - President & CEO since 2017
- Daniel E. Clara - Chief Operating Officer since 2025
- Michael D. Welch - SVP & CFO since 2021
- Dean A. Calloway - SVP, General Counsel & Secretary since 2024
- Jed M. Milstein - SVP & CHRO since 2017
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-04-02
- CEO
- David W. Hult
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 5.6 yr
Stable executive team prior to succession planning.
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-03-28
- CEO
- David W. Hult
- CEO span
- 4
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 6.1 yr
Long‑tenured CEO and largely unchanged C‑suite.
Year-over-year changes
2025 reflected preparation for CEO succession with Clara elevated to COO.
- CEO span: 3 → 4
- C-suite size: 5 → 5
- Avg tenure: 5.6 → 5.2 yr
- promoted Daniel E. Clara - Chief Operating Officer (was SVP, Operations) (DEF 14A, 2026-03-24)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Asbury Automotive Group?
Daniel E. Clara has served as President and CEO since May 2026, following his promotion from Chief Operating Officer.
What type of organizational structure does Asbury Automotive Group use?
Asbury uses a hybrid structure with centralized corporate functions and decentralized dealership operations.
How many direct reports does Asbury Automotive Group's CEO have?
As of mid‑2026, the CEO has four named direct reports.
How has Asbury Automotive Group's leadership changed recently?
In 2026, COO Daniel Clara was promoted to CEO while longtime chief David Hult transitioned to Executive Chairman.
Does Asbury Automotive Group have a COO?
No new COO has been publicly named following Daniel Clara’s promotion to CEO in 2026.
Sources
- Form 8-K, Dec 8, 2025
- SEC EDGAR: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/asbury-automotive-group/MLA 9th
"Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/asbury-automotive-group/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/asbury-automotive-group/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-03-24. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1144980/000114498026000070/abg-20260324.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/asbury-automotive-group/ · last updated 2026-04-01